South Korea’s top biopharmaceutical companies and ventures will be making their way to the 37th J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in the US next month, eyeing new partnerships, foreign investment and promotional opportunities.

The conference, taking place in San Francisco, California, from Jan. 7-10, is the world’s largest and oldest health care investment symposium. Held annually, the event brings together major pharma companies and global investors to discuss the latest development trends and seek out new drug candidates and technologies.

For Korean pharma firms, the conference is considered a critical opportunity to present their product pipelines and potential to big pharma and global investors, and forge ties that could lead to mega licensing deals in the future.


More than 20 Korean biopharma companies are set to take part in the conference, including Samsung BioLogics and Celltrion, which will be presenting their products and services at the event’s Main Track venue.

Samsung BioLogics said its CEO Kim Tae-han is scheduled to present its contract drug manufacturing and development business and to detail the operational timetable for its third production plant in Songdo, which commenced test operations in October.

Celltrion, which has been invited to the Main Track for the first time, will be presenting the commercialization and marketing plans for its biosimilars Truxima and Herzuma, which were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this month, the firm said.

The market has been anticipating that Celltrion would announce more details on construction plans for its overseas production plant, although the firm has taken a wait-and-see attitude on the matter.

Other items on the agenda for Celltrion include the Europe region sales records for Remsima, the firm’s Remicade-referencing biosimilar. The drugmaker’s business outlook for Remsima SC, the subcutaneous version of Remsima, is another high-interest issue.

Meanwhile, Korean drugmakers invited to present at the conference’s Asia Track include LG Chem, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Kolon TissueGene, Medytox, ViroMed, Handok, Kangstem Biotech and S. Biomedics.

A slew of other Korean pharma companies, including SK Biopharmaceuticals, Peptron, Alteogen, Toolgen, Crystal Genomics, G-TreeBNT and Bioleaders, will be holding meetings with investors and potential partners during the health care conference.

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is a closed-door event and attendance is allowed strictly on an invitation-only basis. Thousands of pharma companies make their way to the event every year for networking opportunities and business meetings.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)